A Valentine's Day Epistle
by animeguysaremylife
Summary: A year after their separation, Valentine's Day for Zero and Yuki is not quite the same. A scene from their past comes together in a whole new, heartbreaking way. Did things have to be this way?   One-shot.


**Hello! This might be a little bit late of a Valentine's Day fic, but better late than never! This is my first ever Vampire Knight fic, and I'm so excited about it! I worked very hard on it, so I hope you enjoy it. :D YEEHAW  
**

**Note: If you haven't read Volume Eleven of the manga, this will contain some minor spoilers. **

**I 3 Zero, even if he is being a loserface about Yuki right now!  
**

_BANG._

The Level E in front of him slowly disintegrated into a pile of ashes, which began to blow away in the wind almost at once.

Zero brushed ash from his face and stowed the Bloody Rose back into his coat. This one had been a tough one to catch, but it'd never really had a chance. Level E's never did, not when their selves had deteriorated past the point of no return. Yet for some reason, Zero always gave them one chance anyway. Maybe it was because he'd once been close to Level E-dom himself. Whatever the reason, futile as it always was, there was always a moment when the crazed vampire was trapped in front of his trigger, and Zero would hesitate: searching vainly for any sign that there was a shred of humanity left in the creature in front of him. There never was. But Zero had to give them that chance.

Not with this one, though. By the time Zero had this one where he wanted it, he didn't have any patience left. It'd been a harder day than normal. Why?

It was freaking Valentine's Day.

Zero quickly scooped up a tiny amount of the ash and poured it into a small glass capsule. It was a rule of vampire hunting that the ashes of every vamp killed by put into the archives of the Hunter Society, so that every execution could be properly confirmed. Pain in the neck, but it was the rules.

Zero glanced at the sky. It was dark, and he hadn't slept properly in days. He was exhausted. He popped a couple of blood tablets and started walking towards his apartment.

Yep, today had been a long one. Every minute of his classes at the academy, he'd been hyperaware of the excited whisperings of flippant schoolgirls, comparing chocolate recipes and eagerly telling who they were giving theirs to. Many mourned the loss of the Night Class, having lost their favorite celebrities to obsess over. A couple of the girls had even tried to give Zero chocolate, but he'd scared them off with one look.

Much as he tried to suppress the memories, Valentine's Day reminded Zero of Yuki more than anything.

_Shut up_, he thought, rubbing a hand over his temple. _She's not who she used to be._

But it was no use. The memories came anyway.

He remembered last Valentine's Day. It had come at a difficult time, when Zero was battling his vampire instincts every day. The passage of time was hazy, painful attacks on his throat being the only thing that really stood out. All day, he'd dealt with the incessant giggling and whispering of the annoying schoolgirls, had stood guard while they all barraged their glorified Night Class with chocolates. Watching it had been disgusting. Later, completely drained of energy and will, he had simply been sitting in the bathroom, hair damp from his shower, and Yuki had come. She'd dried his hair, buttoned his shirt, and, wearing an optimistic smile as ever as she confessed that it was the only one that came out right, pressed upon him a tiny, round chocolate.

It hadn't been the best chocolate he'd ever tasted. But it had come from Yuki.

Back then, even as he'd fought the feeling with all he had, he'd felt an irrepressible spark of hope. Of course, it had come to nothing.

Zero shook the thoughts off. He had reached his apartment building. He walked into the front entrance and turned down the hall that lead to his room.

That's when it hit him.

Her scent.

It crashed over him in wave of power, with overwhelming familiarity and appeal. He hadn't smelled her blood in so long.

Yuki had been here.

My God, if he'd been paying attention he would have smelled it sooner. Now, in this small space filled with her stifling scent, his vampire senses amped up to the highest degree and zoomed in upon a little object near the door of his apartment, where the scent was most concentrated.

Leaning against the door of his room-Room 117-was a minuscule round object wrapped in shiny red foil, with a thin white ribbon tied around it. A scrap of paper with writing on it was pinned to it. Zero's senses were vibrantly aware of the smell of chocolate and sugar.

No. No. He didn't want to be here. He didn't want to smell her scent and feel his throat craving for it. He didn't want to walk forward and read what that note said. He'd sworn to eradicate her from his life, save until the day he ended hers. What had she done?

He couldn't help himself from walking forward. Her smell was strongest around that parcel, and his vampire self loved it. He hadn't drunk real blood in a year, and Yuki's blood filled him up like nothing else. He was barely in control of his body at this point, too caught off guard by shock and thirst.

Moving rigidly, his lilac eyes tinted slightly red, he bent down and picked up the gift. Words were written on the piece of paper in an achingly familiar messy scrawl.

_Zero-_

_I know I shouldn't be doing this. But my cooking hasn't improved, and this is still the only one that I could make right. _

_I miss you._

_-Yuki _

His eyes roved over her words again and again, registering them in a kind of distant, numb way. His whole body seized up. He gritted his fangs together and clenched his left fist so hard his nails cut into his palm, and warm blood trickled between his fingers. Head bowed, all of his muscles taught, he stood still, trying to withstand the torrent of memories and pain that was shooting through him. Even as he was falling apart, he forced himself to keep his right hand open, so as not to destroy the Valentine's chocolate he had received from Yuki.

Yuki darted through the streets, using every ounce of her pureblood strength to push herself forward, so that anyone who glimpsed her would see nothing but an indistinct blur and feel a gust of wind. She hadn't a second to waste; any moment now Aido would discover her absence and alert Kaname-sama.

Finding Zero's apartment hadn't been that difficult. She'd casually learned the address from the Headmaster in their last visit together. Sneaking out of the Kuran Mansion had been the hard part.

But eventually, she'd found an opportunity. Kaname was away, though he would be returning that night. Yuki had sent Aido out on a meaningless errand. Evading Seiren had been tricky, but finally Yuki had slipped past her. But she knew she didn't have long.

Yuki had run through the streets to Zero's house, terrified of running into him along the way. She'd gotten to his apartment and taken a hesitant sniff, then sighed in relief. His scent was there, but not near strong enough to signal that he was actually in the building. She'd followed her nose to his apartment and stared at the door.

Room 117. Behind, Zero had lived for the past year. Yuki fingered the little package of chocolate, stuck her note on it, and put it near the door. She'd hesitated, breathing deeply his familiar, warm scent-warm, even when he could be so cold. She wanted to stay longer. She wanted to see the place Zero resided in from top to bottom, make sure he was taking care of himself. But she knew there was no time. Aido would be back any minute, and if Zero found her there…

And so she'd left as quickly as she could, wondering in some part of her mind if he might come after her.

That was the thing. Zero was so unpredictable these days. His brother's death had pushed him over the edge, and she never knew what he'd do. If he'd found her there, she was terribly afraid she would have ended up dead.

Why did it have to be this way?

Yuki turned a corner, long cocoa hair whipping around her face; she was almost back to the mansion. She knew the chances of her having escaped unnoticed were almost zero.

Zero. How ironic.

Kaname would be upset, especially once he found out where she'd been, as he undoubtedly would. Yuki didn't completely understand why Kaname wouldn't let her outside. It had something to do with politics and the Hunter Society and the things that had happened in the past year, but he was vague on the details.

Sometimes she wondered if he kept her locked up because he was afraid she would leave.

She shook that thought off; she would never leave him. She didn't like upsetting him, but she'd had to give Zero the chocolate, had to have some tiny, tenuous connection with him. She would make Kaname understand. Kaname kept so much to himself because he didn't want to worry her, and most of the time, she didn't mind. But on days like these, when Zero was the foremost thought on here mind, she just had to get out.

Giving Zero the chocolate had probably been a bad idea.

But she hadn't been able to help herself. She missed him so much; it was a constant tear inside of her. She was tired of being lonely; tired of never being able to fully satisfy her thirst; tired of wondering if maybe she could have made things turn out differently. Tired of asking herself the same questions over and over again.

She was tired of writing him letters that could never, never be sent.

**Please review, I 3 critique! :D Thanks for reading! **


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